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Bruno Arnason
' Bruno Arnason' (born August 22, 1989) is a South African professional wrestler and former mixed martial arts fighter, who is signed with European Empire Wrestling Association, where he is the current EEWA World Heavyweight Champion in his second reign, a former EEWA European Champion, former EEWA Royal's Cup champion and a former EEWA Tag Team Champion with Alex Jordache . Arnason wrestled at A-XWL (Atlantic-X Wrestling League) for all its existance. There, he was a World Heavyweight Champion, A-XWL European Champion and A-XWL Tag Team Champion with his friend Cesar Alexandre. Also, he was the winner of the King of The Cage tournament. Therefore, he is the first and only Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion from A-XWL. Arnason was a succesful mixed martial arts fighter. He oficially retired on January 27th of 2015 with a 15-0 record and was the ISFL World Openweight champion when he retired. Arnason wrestled in Japan for a long time, using the ring name La Avispa. He lost a career vs. mask match, therefore he was forced to reveal himself. It was after some other matches using his real name, that Arnason started his MMA career, also in Japan. Early life Bruno Arnason was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Immediately after finishing his studies, Arnason started training. After a year, a scout saw huge potential on him, and offered Bruno a contract for an European wrestling promotion, but he refused the offer, stating that he was too "green" (professional wrestling slang for a wrestler who has a gigantic lack of experience). After two more years training, and wrestling as a freelancer in South Africa, he left the country to go wrestle in Japan. Japan La Avispa In Japan, Arnason wrestled for a Japanese promotion for two years, using two personas: La Avispa, a masked heel wrestler who has an admiration for wasps (Avispa is wasp in Spanish) and his real name, still being a heel wrestler, but instead, having a cocky gimmick, which is really close of the gimmick he has nowadays. For seven months, he was undefeated, and had a shot for the JPWF U-25 Heavyweight Championship, but he lost to the then champion AM Cruiser. Two weeks later, he caused a distraction on Cruiser and made him lose the belt. After the match, Avispa cleaned AM Cruiser's face (he had a facepaint) after a wild beating and showed AM's bloodied face to the shocked attendance. After two months out, AM Cruiser returned and attacked La Avispa after a match, but the brawl quickly stopped, after the whole roster came to stop the fight. A week later, Cruiser challenged Avispa for a match, that if Avispa lost, he had to unmask. Avispa immediately agreed, but only if Cruiser would put his career on the line, to which he promptly accepted. After a brutal 54 minute match, Avispa lost and unmasked himself, revealing to be Bruno Arnason. After removing his mask, an angry Arnason threw his mask into Cruiser's face. Bruno Arnason and Team Kill Japan After being out for a month, Arnason returned, immediately costing AM Cruiser a win over Toshio Fujiwara, therefore, turning back to his heel status. After getting rid of his La Avispa gimmick, Arnason became a cocky, obnoxious heel, shaved his head and had a gigantic goatee. During a tag team match between Arnason and Fujiwara vs. AM Cruiser and PM Crusader, Crusader attacked Cruiser and joined Arnason and Fujiwara. After the match, Bruno Arnason announced that a stable was formed and it was ready to dominate JPWF. It was Team Kill JPN (later becoming Team Kill Japan). Arnason later recruited fellow gaijins Steven McCann and Lewis Vassell to the group. After The Dundee also joined the group, Team Kill JPN started to feud with the whole JPWF roster. Team Kill JPN became victorious in a 7-on-7 tag team match a month later. During some time, Arnason was the JPWF World Heavyweight Champion (later unifying it with the JPWF U-25 Heavyweight Championship), Vassell and McCann were the JPWF Tag Team Champions, Fujiwara was the JPWF Unbreakable Champion and PM Crusader was the JPWF World Jr. Heavyweight Champion. At the same time. During a match between Arnason, McCann and Vassell vs. Alexander Akiyama, AM Cruiser and Yoshihiro Takashi, AM Cruiser turned on his partner and joined Team Kill Japan in a shocking move. After more two months, it was found out that Cruiser only joined Team Kill Japan to cause a mutiny inside the group and to disband it. After regaining the JPWF World title, Cruiser defeated Arnason in a Title vs. Disbanding the Stable, and with that, Team Kill Japan was forced to disband. After that, all of other wrestlers from the stable turned on Arnason. Two days later, Arnason left JPWF to focus on a mixed martial arts career. MMA career Immediately after leaving JPWF, Arnason became a freelancer MMA fighter, but never left Japan. On January 3rd, 2009, Arnason had his first MMA fight, knocking out cold Ryuzo Kurosawa after one minute with a hard left punch to his face. On March 7th, 2009, Arnason won his second fight, after making Kazushi Maruyama submit after a heel hook. Three weeks later, Arnason won his third fight, after a TKO victory over Kenzo Nakamura. On April 11th, Arnason won his fourth fight, after defeating Andrew Schoemann. This win was impressive, since Schoemann never lost a fight before and Arnason knocked him out cold after 16 seconds. It was after that win, that Arnason became well-known in Japan and earned the respect of MMA fans and fighters, who initally thought he was "just a sports stunt". After a two month hiatus, Arnason won his fifth fight, on June 13th, after knocking out Yoshikatsu Hattori. This fight was and is still the only where Arnason went for a second round, since all the others ended at the very first round. A week later, Arnason won his sixth fight, by knocking out Nastja Vugdalic after 35 seconds. After the fight, Arnason announced he was taking a break. He only returned on December 12th, winning his seventh fight by making Koji Narazaki submit to a kimura. The ending was impressive since Narazaki broke 3 kimura attempts, and one of them injured his arm. And after Arnason going for the injured arm, Narazaki had no choice, but to tap out. After the fight, Arnason said he wanted to fight Koji again, since he was impressed by Koji's efforts of fighting with an injured arm. On January 25th, 2010, Arnason fought Narazaki again, and defeated him again, this time by TKO. He was 8-0 this time. After the fight, Arnason and Koji shook hands. They became huge friends ever since. On July 26th, 2010, Arnason had his latest MMA fight, defeating Shota Aleishvili after kicking him several times. Therefore, a KO victory. After the fight, Arnason took the microphone and said he was leaving Japan and MMA, since he wanted to return to South Africa and to give himself a break. Independent Circuit (2011) After taking a four month hiatus, Arnason returned to professional wrestling. From January to October, he wrestled for some local independent wrestling promotions. Atlantic-X Wrestling League (2011-2012) Beginning Bruno de Barros, the A-XWL owner, signed Bruno Arnason on October 28th, 2011. Arnason was the first wrestler to join A-XWL. He was going to wrestle as a heel. His first match was a tag team match on December 6th, 2011, at A-XWL Stacked, where he was partnered with Cesar Alexandre, and together, they defeated The Dundee and Shane Ryan, or Team Australia, where Arnason made Dundee submit to the Sharpshooter. Five days later, at A-XWL Underrated!, Arnason pinned Jaques Brazier after an Implant DDT, on his first A-XWL singles match. The night after, at A-XWL Live! again partnering with Cesar Alexandre, they defeated James Flannel and Ryan the Giant. On the same night, he defeated Kyle Pinder, after making him submit to the Sharpshooter. On December 19th, 2011, he defeated Klaas Marienhoff, on A-XWL Live!, by making submit to the Sharpshooter. Two days later, at A-XWL All Action, Arnason defeated Árnor Sigurdsson after a Punch Load. The first ever A-XWL European Champion On December 24th, 2012, at the Title Night Rumble CPV, Arnason wrestled twice. He lost his first match, which was a match for the A-XWL World Tag Team Championship, partnering with Cesar Alexandre, against The Phantom and The Evil Biker. Arnason was the one who directly lost after tapping out to a Camel Clutch from The Phantom. Later on, he defeated Michael Schneider to become the first ever A-XWL European Heavyweight Champion. He held the title for 51 days. Arnason lost the belt on February 13, 2012, at A-XWL Live!, by losing to The Gigante. A-XWL Tag Team Champion On January 16, 2012, at A-XWL Live!, Bruno Arnason and Cesar Alexandre became the second A-XWL Tag Team Champions by defeating the then champions The Evil Biker and The Phantom. Arnason avenged his loss from the Christmas Eve, by defeating The Phantom, due to a Punch Load. It was during this run, that it became clear Arnason and Cesar were in fact heels. After holding the title for 49 days, they were forced to vacate the Tag Team Championship on March 5th, 2012, since Arnason had won the King of the Cage tournament and Alexandre was the A-XWL World Heavyweight Champion, and therefore, they had to face each other. No other team held the Tag Titles more than them. King of the Cage (2012) Bruno Arnason won the King of The Cage 2012 tournament, a tournament with 8 wrestlers having 1-on-1 matches inside a steel cage. It happened on February 26th, 2012. Arnason defeated three wrestlers: Shane Ryan, The Serial and Dylan Brazier. Since winning the tournament would give a title shot to the winner for the A-XWL World Heavyweight Champion, Arnason was going to compete for the belt at the next CPV: Apocalypse Row. Feuding with Cesar Alexandre and final A-XWL World Champion Six nights before King of the Cage, his then tag team partner Cesar Alexandre became the A-XWL World Heavyweight Champion by beating the then champion The Evil Biker. After disbanding and vacating the Tag Team titles, Arnason and Alexandre started a rivalry, at first was all about respect. One day before Apocalypse Row!, at A-XWL Stacked, he introduced his valet Haruhi Morishima, who debuted at A-XWL on the same night. At Apocalypse Row, on April 1st, Cesar Alexandre retained his title by pinning Arnason after a Pump Handle Slam. After that, Arnason started to disrespect his opponent numerous times, and challenged him for a rematch at Final Stage to a steel cage match. On April 29th, at Final Stage, Bruno Arnason defeated Cesar Alexandre in a steel cage match, to become the third A-XWL World Heavyweight Champion. After winning all the titles, Bruno Arnason became the first ever A-XWL Triple Crown Champion. Counting the King of the Cage tournament win, Arnason became, officially, the only A-XWL Grand Slam Champion. On May 7th, at A-XWL Live!, the final A-XWL show, Arnason defeated Ryan The Giant by submission. According to Arnason, if A-XWL still existed, he was supposed to feud with Dylan Brazier, the 2012 Final Stage tournament champion. He was supposed to retain his title at A-XWL Blackout!, on May 27th, and then dropping the title to Dylan on a rematch at A-XWL Summer Break Fest, on July 1st. And after losing a rematch of his own one night after, Arnason would, in storyline, leave the promotion. European Empire Wrestling Association: The first run (2014) When A-XWL ceased its operations, Arnason decided to return to South Africa, to train other wrestlers, as he wrestled in South Africa from 2013 to 2014. But on April 2nd, 2014, Bruno de Barros called Arnason to a conversation about a wrestling promotion he founded, European Empire Wrestling Association. It was found out that Arnason was signed to EEWA. Like in A-XWL, he was the first signed wrestler. His debut was on EEWA's first show, on July 2nd, 2014, at Open Fight Night. First he cut a promo criticizing women, football fans, the newly crowned EEWA commissioner Jacques García and the people who attended the Axion Arena, therefore confirming his heel status. His debut match was a win over Andriy Samarin. As he tried to break Samarin's leg, Dylan Brazier appeared to stop him. After Dylan's win over Maarkus Huber, Arnason brutally attacked Dylan. A week later, Arnason with Alex Jordache defeated Ultimate Force. After wins over Brit Brawler, The Phantom, and a tag team win over Big Squad, Arnason suffered his first loss on July 23rd, at Open Fight Night, where he, as one of the four members of Knights of the Sun, when the team was disqualified in a 8-man tag team match against Team Brittannia. World Heavyweight Champion (2014) At Wrestling Carnage (2014), since Arnason would be wrestling for the EEWA World Heavyweight Championship, he chose Brian Barrows to replace him in the EEWA Tag Team Championship match. Jordache and Barrows eventually lost to the Silver Hunters. Arnason, however, pinned Dylan Brazier, grabbing Dylan's tights for additional leverage, to win the EEWA World Heavyweight Championship. On July 30th, 2014, at Open Fight Night, Arnason was pinned for the first time in EEWA. Dylan Brazier pinned him in a tag team match with Christian Hansen teaming with Dylan, and Baron von Aaron teaming with Arnason. After a win in a six-man tag team match, on August 6th, Arnason succesfully defended the World Championship against Ryan Westberg, at Open Fight Night, on August 13th. Arnason never wrestled on August 20th edition of Open Fight Night, but he caused the Brazier Brothers to lose the Tag Team Championship to the Silver Hunters. At the August 22nd Show (2014), Arnason lost the World title to Dylan Brazier, after he was pinned. However, the night after, at EEWA Saturday Storm, the commissioner Jacques García returned the title to Arnason, since his leg was under the bottom rope, which would nullify the pin, but the referee was not aware of that. Dylan Brazier's 1 day reign does not count, so Arnason kept being a champion in his first reign. With their rivalry way more out of control, Bruno's team of Alex Jordache and Brian Barrows won a tag team match on September 3rd, at Open Fight Night. Due to this, Bruno chose the stipulation for the match at EEWA Fall Rebellion against Dylan Brazier as a "Pelea de Fuenlabrada" match, a match with last man standing rules and with weapons surrounding the ring. At Fall Rebellion, on September 28th, Arnason and Dylan had a bloody match that lasted 34 minutes. Dylan Brazier won the match and became the champion after doing the British Blockage through two wooden tables. Both wrestlers were bleeding profusely, especially Bruno, since he had a gash on his forehead after a sloppy bladejob. At the following Open Fight Night, on October 1st, Bruno had his rematch. Bruno, however, put his contract on the line because he didn't want to stay in EEWA to see Dylan with the belt, had Bruno lost the rematch. And it happened. After 20 minutes of a back and forth match, Dylan pinned Bruno with the S. A. M.. As Bruno could not believe that he was really done with EEWA, the fans were mocking him. International ShootFighting League (2014-2015) Three days after losing his EEWA contract, Bruno was spotted at the ISFL 6 event. After seeing Bruno and being annoyed by his presence, Akona Masilela challenged Bruno for a fight at ISFL 7. For much of the days before the fight, Bruno and Akona were exchanging scathing remarks over each other. On October 18th, Bruno defeated Akona Masilela in 5 minutes and 34 seconds, with a Trampling Clutch. Despite being a submission move, Masilela was unconscious, since Bruno had his foot on Akona's head for quite a long time, since Akona never tapped out. On November 8th, at ISFL 8, Bruno defeated Predrag Jerkovic in 7 minutes, via KO, with a Spinning Kick. On November 22nd, at ISFL 9, Bruno defeated Akona Masilela for the second time, in 5 minutes and 45 seconds, via KO with a punch. At ISFL 10, on December 6th, Bruno KO'd Kenny Murray with a punch in 6 minutes and 34 seconds. On December 20th, at ISFL 11, Bruno defeated Heiko Jussianen via KO, with a belly-to-belly suplex in 7 minutes and 9 seconds. Jussianen was knocked-out for 3 minutes, after he fell on his head. At that time, Bruno was 5-0, and he eventually received a title shot for the ISFL World Openweight Championship. On January 24th, 2015, at ISFL 12, he defeated the then champion Jamie Lewin via KO, in 9 minutes, after a spinning heel kick. Arnason, however, retired three days later from mixed martial arts. Arnason said that he wanted to prove to himself that he still had it (referring to his previous run in MMA on 2009-10). He then explained that he had nothing to prove, due to winning a title in MMA and being undefeated. European Empire Wrestling Association: The second run (2015-present) Arnason returned to EEWA at EEWA No Way Back, on January 25th, 2015, appearing after the Dylan Brazier vs. Ryan Westberg match, as a masked man attacking Dylan with a hammer. On February 4th, at Open Fight Night, Arnason, again as a masked man, attacked Dylan during a three way match with Alex Jordache and Ryan Westberg, but spared the other two from a beating. The week after, Arnason took the mask off after again attacking Dylan Brazier, during a match with Lewis Vassell. First ever EEWA Grand Slam winner (2015) On February 14th, at EEWA Saturday Storm, Bruno defeated Jaques Brazier for the EEWA European Championship, after challenging him at the start of the show. It was during the February 18th edition of Open Fight Night, that Bruno started to show a new behaviour. After quickly defeating Matthew Ossy, Bruno viciously attacked him. For a while, Bruno kept attacking opponents after winning matches, quickly abandoning the persona of a cocky heel and becoming a vicious heel. For example, on March 11th, at Open Fight Night, Bruno defeated Brit Brawler and then hit Brawler with multiple chairshots, until Dylan Brazier made the save. Three days later, at Saturday Storm, Arnason injured Road Rage Britain's right knee after stomping on a chair that Bruno put on Road Rage's knee. Road Rage returned on April 1st episode of Open Fight Night, attacking Bruno after a succesful European title defense over Shane Ryan. Their feud culminated at Assault and Battery (2015) in a Pelea de Fuenlabrada. Bruno won with the Springbok Suplex. On April 29th at Open Fight Night, Arnason issued an open challenge for his EEWA European Championship at Wrestle-A-Thon (2015). Andriy Samarin, the then EEWA Royal's Cup holder, answered the challenge. However, Shane Ryan and Maxim Maliarev also showed up. Then, the commissioner Jacques García decided that it would be a four way ladder match at Wrestle-A-Thon, for the European Championship and the Royal's Cup. At Wrestle-A-Thon, on May 24th, Arnason became a dual champion after retrieving both championships. Bruno, although by accident, legitimately injured Maxim Maliarev's left ankle after a German Suplex that sent Maliarev's ankle onto a turnbuckle post. Fortunately, Maliarev's injury wasn't serious and he quickly returned. Arnason quickly vacated the Royal's Cup on June 3rd, at Open Fight Night, by option. Since a wrestler can hold two titles at once, and Arnason openly stated wanted to compete for the EEWA Tag Team Championship. Around that time, he started a feud with Ryan Westberg, who had just lost the EEWA World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle-A-Thon to Bruno's tag partner Alex Jordache. On May 30th, at Saturday Storm, Westberg saved his tag partner Shane Ryan from a post-match attack made by Bruno. Parallel to this, Bruno, as part of his tag team with Jordache, was in a feud with the Brazier Brothers. The Reign of Misogyny tag team became the Tag Team Champions after defeating the Brazier Brothers in a winner take all match at Mayhem in Pieces (2015), on June 28th, for Bruno's European Championship, Jordache's World Championship and the Brazier's Tag Championships. After taking the Brazier Brothers out of everyone's attention by injuring them in that match, Arnason and Jordache went on to feud with Ryan Westberg and Shane Ryan, respectively. After an easy win over Matthew Ossy, at Wrestling Carnage, Arnason and Jordache would, 3 days later, at Open Fight Night, attack Ryan Westberg backstage and would face Shane Ryan in a two-on-one handicap match that ended in a no contest, following Ryan Westberg's interference that led to the tag teams fight uncontrollably. Arnason would go to defend the European Championship at the August 22nd Show against Westberg, but was disqualified after attacking the referee and Westberg with his belt, after Westberg kicked out of Arnason's two pin attempts. Arnason would lose the title to Westberg at Fall Rebellion. World Champion again and Feud with EEWA wrestlers (2015-16) After losing the title, Arnason went on to feud with the World Champion Shane Ryan. At the same time, Arnason and Jordache attacked the Brazier Brothers before their match against Arms of Steel, at Open Fight Night, on October 28th. Arnason would become the number one contender for the EEWA World Heavyweight Championship at Kingdom Birth, a week later, in a three way match against Dylan Brazier and the Brit Brawler, by pinning the latter with the Springbok Suplex. At Kingdom Birth, Arnason became a two-time EEWA World Champion by defeating Shane Ryan. After the match, Arnason and the rest of the Knights of the Sun attacked EEWA wrestlers, leaving them hurt in the ring, while they celebrated, since every member of the stable had a title. It was a message from the KotS to the EEWA: that their domination would finally begin. At End of Days, on December 27th, Arnason, alongside Lewis Vassell, Mark Jordan, Brian Barrows and Alex Jordache defeated the EEWA United Front (Dylan Brazier, Ryan Westberg, Shane Ryan, Jaques Brazier and La Avispa II), in a 10-man-tag-team match when La Avispa's tag team partner Black Avispa turned heel and rejoined Knights of the Sun, by hitting Avispa with a hammer shot to the head. On January 6th, at Open Fight Night, Arnason succesfully defended his world title against La Avispa, thanks to Black Avispa's interference. At No Way Back, Arnason succesfully defended his world championship against Ryan Westberg in a highly acclaimed match. Gimmick When Arnason first wrestled in Japan, he was La Avispa, a masked heel wrestler who had a fascination for wasps and was a vicious heel. After unmasking, Arnason started to use his real name. He shaved his hair, and started to sport a gigantic goatee. He used black leather pants, white boots, white wristbands and black elbow pads. Arnason still uses the same attire to this day. Instead being a vicious heel, he developed a cocky attitude and became obnoxious. Arnason trained various wrestlers, and he brought that to his gimmick, stating that he took them under his wing. Those wrestlers are: - Haruhi Morishima, currently wrestling at WIWL; - The Dundee, who would become La Avispa II, currently at EEWA - Mark Jordan, currently at EEWA - Lewis Vassell, currently at EEWA - Brian Barrows, currently at EEWA and ISFL - Laetitia Kracheva, currently at WIWL; - Patricia Göransson, currently at WIWL; - Alex Jordache, currently at EEWA; - Sebastian Anderson, currently at United-WL; - Alexandra Betschart, currently at WIWL; - Malin Segerström, semi-retired wrestler who currently works for WIWL as the co-commissioner and as a road agent. After joining EEWA, he started to develop misogynist antics, and stopped to recognize the women he trained. Although after returning to EEWA, following his MMA run, Bruno started to leave his misogynist antics, and would become a vicious heel, more worried with injuring people than being a cocky heel. Personal life Outside of professional wrestling, Bruno Arnason is a fan of auto racing and is the owner of AMI, Inc., a team that competes in championships from World Motorsports Federation. Arnason revealed this in February of 2016. Arnason is also a fan of rugby. He was spotted at the grandstands in a SARSL match in 2015 between the Johannesburg Dragons and the Cape Town Panthers. Since 2012, Arnason is in a relationship with WIWL color commentator Christina Abraham. In wrestling Finishing moves - Le Reclinèr (Standing camel clutch) - 2012-present - Punch Load (Series of punches to the face) - 2011-2012 - Springbok Suplex (Fisherman brainbuster) - 2008, 2014-present - Grime Driver (Samurai driver) - 2007-2011 - Shooting Star Press - 2008-present, since 2012, however, has been rarely used - Mushroom Kick (Superkick) - 2011-2012 - Aurora Slam (Spinning sidewalk slam after an irish whip) - 2014, nowadays used as a signature move Signature moves - Spinning spinebuster - 2007-2008, 2012-2014 - Standing spinebuster, after an irish whip - 2014-2015 - Spear - 2014-present - Sharpshooter - 2011-2012 - Ankle Hold (standing ankle lock) - 2007-present - Moonsault - 2011-present - Suplex --Spinning Belly to Belly Suplex - 2011- present --Overhead Belly to Belly Suplex - 2011-2015 -- Delayed Suplex - 2007-2008 --Fisherman Suplex - 2007-2008, 2014-present --German Suplex - 2015-present --Side Suplex - 2011-2014 -- Double Arm Trap Belly to Belly Suplex - 2015-present -- Snap overhead belly to belly - 2016-present - Triangle Hold - 2008, 2011-2012 Entrance themes * "Overload" by Soilwork (Independent circuit, 2004-2005, 2011, 2013-2014) * "Everybody Needs Disgrace" by FPM (as a member of Knights of the Sun) (EEWA, 2014-present) * "Reckless Antagonism" by FPM (EEWA, 2014-present) Championships and accolades Japanese Pro Wrestling Federation JPWF World Heavyweight Champion (1 time) JPWF U-25 Heavyweight Champion (1 time, the final) Pros of South Africa ProSA Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ProSA Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Alex Sharp Atlantic-X Wrestling League A-XWL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, the final) A-XWL European Championship (1 time) A-XWL World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Cesar Alexandre A-XWL King of the Cage winner (2012) A-XWL Triple Crown Champion (The first and only) A-XWL Grand Slam Champion (The first and only) European Empire Wrestling Association EEWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times and current) EEWA European Championship (1 time) EEWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Alex Jordache EEWA Royal's Cup (1 time) EEWA Triple Crown (The first) EEWA Grand Slam (The first) International ShootFighting League ISFL World Openweight Championship (1 time) Category:A-XWL wrestlers Category:EEWA wrestlers